The returned gods of Kayumalon are the new currencies of power. In Kayumalon, seed mages are a coin a dozen, but the god vessels are infinite. Kalem, once a simple, awkward germachemical scholar, has lived in the shadow of his father, the Obsidian Datu, all his life. Now, with the power of the earth god flowing in his veins, time is all he has, and he intends to use it to help his father change his country for the better. But politics is a far different battlefield, and despite the problems the country faces now— invaders in the north, slave rebellion in the south, political instability in the east, blight in the west— it seems that all these bureaucrats care about is jostling for more power and impressing the king, whose pride and ambition could be their very well be their own downfall. It would take more than a legend, more than a good king, more than a mage, to navigate the treacherous twists and turns of Kayumalon court. Unfortunately, Kalem' s enemies also have the power of the gods on their side.